Tempering glass



Patented Apr. 30, 1940 UNITED STATES ramsamc cuss Charles John Phillips, Corning, N.

to Corning Glass Works,

Y., assignor Corning, N. Y., a corporation oi New York Application December 28, 1936, Serial No. 117,985

8 Claims.

This invention relates to tempering glass and more particularly to liquid baths for chilling heated glass bodies in the production of tempered glass articles. Liquid baths such as oils, fats, and waxes have long been used as chilling media inglass tempering processes butdue to the fact, that these sub 3 stances impart only a fraction of the temper to shape,

a glass which it can successfully withstand the generally accepted liquid media heretofore used for glass tempering purposes have but a limited field of useful application.

I have discovered that in articles made from low expansion glasses or glasses which possess a.

short working range it is impossible to develop the highest tempered strengths which the glass can standby chilling in liquids such as those heretofore used by the prior art.

There is a difference in the inherent chilling severity of different liquids even among those of apparently similar nature. My experiments have shown me that each liquid produces a difierent degree of temper inglass bodies of identical size, and glass composition even though the temperature of the chilling baths are kept uniform and the temperature to which the glass bodies are heated prior to chilling is the same for all of the articles.

This is due to the fact that the ability of any substance to absorb heat at a given temperature depends on the physical characteristics of the substance at that temperature, and no two substanceshave identical characteristics of thermal conductivity, specific gravity, viscosity, etc., at the same temperature. I

Of the chilling media disclosed by the prior art water, is not satisfactory for the reason that The primary object of the present invention is to introduce into a tempered glass article a degree of strain higher than that heretofore possible to attain without disrupting the article or its surface. 5

A further object is to produce predetermined degrees of temper in an article intermediate its annealed strength and up to itsmaximum tempered strength.

The above and other objects may be attained by m practicing my invention which embodies among its features heating an article to a temperature lying between its annealing and softening temperatures and immersing it in a liquid chilling bath having a chilling power which while it is less than that of water is materially greater than that of the tempering media employedby the prior art.

More specifically my invention embodies a chilling medium for use in tempering glass which consists of a liquid chilling bath having a chilling power lying between the values log y (H X =4.00+0.003T

and log in which T is the temperature of the chilling bath in degrees centigrade.

In the drawing is graphically depicted curves showing the field within which the chilling power of the bath must be to produce the additional degree of temper which has been found desirable.

When a heated glass body is immersed in a liquid bath having a temperature "lower than that of the glass, heat will flow from the glass into the bath and the more rapid this transfer of heat the greater will be the chilling action of the bath on the glass. For, the sake of convenience I refer to the ability of the liquid bath to absorb heat as the chilling power H of the bath.

Investigations have shown that the chilling power H for'liquids for use in tempering glass is dependent on the various physical properties oftheliquid bath, i. e., thermal conductivity of the liquid, specific gravity of the liquid, temperature coefllcient of expansion of the liquid, specific heat at constant pressure of the liquid and the absolute viscosity of the liquid. These physical properties are subject to change in magnitude as the temperature of the bath changes and as a consequence the chilling power 1-1 will also change with a variation of the bath temperature.

In order to produce the highest tempered strength in a glass article it is necessary to chill it in a tempering medium which will remove heat from the glass at the maximum rate which the particular glass will stand without surface check-v j ing or fracture. The chilling power H for liquid tempering media is obtainable from the following formula:

where K equals the. thermal conductivity of the liquid in B. t. u. per hour per square foot per degree F.per foot.

P equals the specific gravity in pounds per cubic foot. Y

B equals the temperature coefllcient of expansion per degree F.

C equals the specific heat at constant pressure B. t. u. per pound per degree'F.

U equals the absolute viscosity in pounds per hour per foot.

Since the above physical properties all change in magnitude as. the temperature of the bath changes, it followsthat the chilling power H will also change with the bath temperature and hence it is necessary in using the formula specifying the chilling power H to specify the temperature at which the bath is to be maintainedvwhen in use. At such a fixed temperature, H for any bath will appear as a dimensionless number of the glass;

(4) The modulus of elasticity of the glass;

(5) The thickness of the glass;

(6) The viscosity vs. temperature relationship of the glass;

(7) The thermal diffusivity of the glass.

The degree of temper which can be imparted to a glass body in tempering is dependent upon the rate at which heat is removed from the surface of the'body by the chilling medium. The rate atiwhich' heat is removed from the body is determined by the value of the chilling power H of the chilling medium and the difference in temperature of the glass and the bath. From this it follows that the greater the chilling power H possessed by the chilling medium the greater willbe the chilling-action of the liquid bath upon the glass body for a given temperature difference between the bath and the glass body when immersed therein and hence also the greater will be the degree of final temper imparted to the glass body.

Due largely to the increasing fluidity of the bath, the chilling power H of-a liquid chilling bath increases as the-bath temperature increases. This compensates in part for the loss of temperature gradient between the glass and the bath for as the glass cools the bathbecomes more highly heated and consequently more fluid with the result that it is in one respect capable of extracting heat from the glass more rapidly than when in its cooler state.

In actual practice I have employed glasses having different compositions and physical characteristics as shown in Tables I and H below.

Table I 1 Table 11 Softening Annealing Strain Expansion -tomp. temp. temp. pcrdogreeO.

'0. c. c.' I a am 553 510 32x10 a... 10a 490 401 aoxio-v I have discovered a number of liquid media having a chilling power H which lies between the values log (H 10)=4.00+0.003T and log (Hx10) =2.50+0.003T among which are 1:2:4 trichlorbenzine .having a chilling power H of log (H X 10 =3.25+0.00475T, light chlorinated resin which has -a chilling power H of log (HX 10 =2.55+0.0035T, diphenyl oxide which has a chilling power H of 103 (H X 10") =3.l2 +0.004'15T and certain combinations and mixtures of the above, the chilling powers H of which can be made to vary between .the values log (BX 10 =4.00+0.003r

and log (H x 10") =2.50+0.003T

As one example of the use of one of these media with low expansion borosilicate glass having the composition and physical characteristics corresponding to glass A disclosed in Tables Iand II above a slab measuring 2' x 4" x V was subjected for a period of six minutes to a temperature of 760 C. and then immediately plunged into a chilling bath of 1:2:4 trichlorbenzine held at a temperature of- 20 C. This resulted in the introduction into the piece of a maximum tension of four kilograms per squaremillimeter. A like piece of glass subjected in the same manner for a like period of time to a like temperature and then introducedinto' a chilling bath consisting of light chlorinated resin at a temperature of 50 C. was found to possess a maximum tension of 3.60 kilograms per square'millimeter. In a third instance a 2" x 4" x A" slab of borosilicate glass having the'same composition and physical characteristics as glass A above was subjected for a period of six minutes to a temperature of 760 C. and then plunged into a liquid chilling bath composed of diphenyl oxide held at a temperature of 20 C. and upon examination was found to possess a maximum tension of 3.90 kilograms per square millimeter.

Similar experiments were carried on using glass B disclosed in Tables I andII above. Slabs of this glass 2" x 4" x%" were subjected to a temperature of 675 C. for a period of six minutes and then immediately introduced into a liquid chilling bath consisting of 1:2:4 trichlorbenzine held at a temperature of 20 C.-and were found to possess a maximum tension of 5.75 kilograms per square millimeter. Similar pieces heated as i above and then chilled into a liquid chilling bath consisting of light chlorinated resin held at a temperature of 50 C. were found topossess a maximum tension of 4.70 kilograms per square millimeter. When like slabs heated in a like manner were chilled in a liquid chilling bath consisting of diphenyl oxide held at a temperature of 20C. they were found to possess a maximum tension of 5.35 kilograms per square millimeter.

The chilling media mentioned above are but a few of those which I know to possess chilling powers I-I suitable for my purpose and have been disclosed merely as examples of liquid chilling v media having chilling powers H lying between log (HX 10) =4.00+0.003T

and log l (H x 10 =2.50+0.003T

Hence I do not in any way wish to be limited to the specific examples given above. Moreover different methods of heat conditioning glass articles prior to chilling them may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

This application is a continuation-in-part of a copending application filed by me on the 16th day of September, 1935, Serial Number 40,842.

What I claim is: r

1. The method of tempering glassware which 3 includes heating it to a temperature lying between its strain and softening temperatures and chilling it in a liquid bath having a chilling power lying between the values log (H X 10) =4.00+0.003T

(HX 10) =2.50+0.003T

where T is the temperature of the chilling bath in degrees centigrade.

2. The method of tempering low expansion glassware which includes heating it to a temperaand 10g ture lying between its annealing and softening temperatures and chilling it in a liquid bath hav- 4. The method of tempering glass which includes heating it to a temperature lying between its strain and softening temperatures and chilling it in a liquid bath having a chilling power of the value log (H x 10) =2.55+0.0035T,

where T is the temperature of the chilling bath in degrees centigrade.

5. The method of tempering glass which includes heating it to a temperature lying between its strain and softening temperatures andchilling it in a liquid bath" having a chilling power of the value log (H x 10)=3.12+0.00475T, where T is the temperature of the chilling bath in degrees centigrade.

6. The method of tempering glassware which comprises heating it to a temperature between its strain and softening temperatures and chilling it in a bath having a temperature lower than the strain temperature of the glass, said bath comprising 1:2:4 trichlorbenzine.

7. The method of tempering glassware which comprises heating it to a temperature between its strain and softening temperatures and chilling it in a bath having a temperature lower than the strain temperature of the glass, said bath comprising light chlorinated resin.

8. The method of tempering glassware which comprises heating it to a temperature between its strain and softening temperatures and chilling it in a bath having a temperature lower than the strain temperature of the glass, said bath comprising diphenyl oxide. i

CHARLES JOHN PHILIPS. 

